Government-funded religious schools in Canada

Newfoundland

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Until the 1990s, this province had four religious school systems that were
government supported and run by various Christian denominations. The
province had no secular public school system.
This was a legacy from two centuries of British rule. The systems were
Pentecostal, Roman Catholic,
Seventh Day Adventist, and inter-denominational. The
latter was a merger of previously existing Anglican, Salvation Army and United Church
systems.

Two
public referendums and a constitutional amendment finally terminated government support for
religious systems. Public schools in the province are now secular. The most
recent referendum was held in 1997 when 73% of adults voted in favor of the change.
Some of the support for secular schools might have been a backlash originating
in horrendous physical and sexual abuse experienced at the Roman Catholic
Mount Cashel orphanage that was run by the
Christian Brothers. 2,3,4

The
transition to a single secular system has a number of interesting implications with respect to
religious freedom and religious tolerance:

Although separate schools can theoretically continue in the future without government
funding, it is unlikely that any will do so. In order to survive under the new system,
parents would have to pay twice: once via fees for their school of choice, and once via
taxes for the public system. This is the system by which parochial
schools are financed in the U.S. Some religious groups, notably the Roman Catholics and
Pentecostals see this as a restriction on their traditional religious freedom. They view
the change as depriving much of the population of access to religious schooling for their
children.

The previous, religiously based, system was not fair to all faith groups. The right to
organize publicly supported religious schools was given to only certain Christian
denominations. Tax money extracted from the public (Christians and non-Christians
alike) was given to a specific select group of Christian faith-based
school systems. No money was given to other Christian denominations
or to non-Christian faith groups that might have wanted to establish
faith-based schools of their own.

Parents who followed non-Christian religions, or who did not identify with
any particular faith group, were free to ask that their children be
exempted from Christian classes, prayers and assemblies.
Unfortunately, this often led to harassment and abuse by other students
who victimized anyone who was different. The only other option was to send
their children to the only secular private school in the province,
located at St John's. This was seen by many parents and students as a gross violation of their religious freedom.

The province has had a history of sectarian rivalry and friction
- mainly between Protestants and Roman Catholics. The denominationally-affiliated schools
were not noted for teaching religious
tolerance towards other religions and toward other sectors of
Christendom. It is apparent that the people of Newfoundland prefer a
secular school system that does not favor one denomination over
another, and does not divide the school body according to religious
affiliation. This will hopefully lead to greater religious tolerance in
Newfoundland's future.

Denominational schools in the previous system could refuse
admission to some students on purely religious grounds. One result
is that many children were singled out as being different and bussed
to other communities. This forced a significant emotional and
physical hardship on some children.

Religiously-based schools had the right to refuse to hire
qualified teachers on purely religious grounds. Teachers who were
Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Aboriginal, Atheist, and even Christian
from smaller sects were discriminated against on the basis of
religion. In a gross violation of their human rights, some teachers
could not be hired anywhere in the province., except at the sole
secular school.

The previous system was economically wasteful. With the
efficiencies of a single school system, more money has become
available
for needed social programs that will improve the quality of life of
Newfoundlanders.

Parents now elect secular boards of education and have a
direct say in the running of their local schools. In the previous
system, schools were run by religious groups which were not
necessarily organized democratically. In many cases, parents had
little or no influence on school policies.

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Developments in Newfoundland may be instructive to those Americans who are
considering the introduction of school vouchers. They would give parents the
option of sending their children to religiously based schools. To judge by the
response of the citizens of Newfoundland at the recent referendum, the public
might prefer a single, government supported, secular school system as superior to a multiple-choice
religiously based system.

At one time, ridings in the nearby province of Prince Edward Island were
represented in the PEI legislature by two MLAs: one Protestant and the other
Roman Catholic. This was a response to past levels of bitter sectarian friction.
But that structure tended to preserve religious intolerance rather than minimize
it. It reduced the religious freedom and rights of those who were neither
Protestant nor Roman Catholic. This system has been abandoned in favor of a
single candidate per riding. The resolution of the Newfoundland's school
system seems to have followed a parallel course to this change PEI's legislature: less
religious freedom and power for the majority; more freedom for religious
minorities and secularists; and greater religious tolerance for all.

References used:

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